The invention relates to an automatic food dispenser for dispensing hot instant meals, the apparatus including a housing having a front that is provided with operating elements and a refrigeration chamber for storing a supply of refrigerated packaged instant meals. At least one oven, preferably a microwave oven, is disposed underneath the refrigeration chamber and includes a cooking chamber for accommodating a refrigerated instant meal, an oven door provided with an opening mechanism and a movable cooking surface which is mechanically coupled with the oven door. An electromechanical removal device is provided at the underside of the refrigeration chamber to remove an individual instant meal from the refrigeration chamber and move it, with the oven door open, onto the cooking surface. By way of a discharge chamber accessible to the operator, the hot instant meal is discharged to the operator.
Such an automatic dispenser, particularly for dispensing hot pizza and other Italian dishes is disclosed in DE-A1-3,738,708 which originates from the same applicant.
In the prior art apparatus, one or a plurality of refrigerated food portions are removed from the storage container by means of an electromechanical flap mechanism. Due to its own gravity, the food portion then slides over a sloped surface onto a deflection flap which is lowered by means of an electromechanical system when the oven door is opened so that the food disposed thereon slides over a further sloped surface into the interior of the oven. When the heating process is completed, the oven door is opened again and simultaneously the food heating surface which is coupled by way of a mechanism is raised in such a manner that the heated food portion is brought to the discharge chamber over a further sloped sliding surface.
The removal and supply of food portions by means of the electromechanical flap-and-slide system has not found acceptance. It has been found that gravity alone is not sufficient to ensure problem-free transport of the food portions within the automatic dispenser. In particular, the discharge of the heated food solely over sloped sliding surfaces has been found to be fraught with problems since, on the one hand, the hot food portions tend to stick to the food heating surface and, on the other hand, there exists the danger that the sensitive sliding material might be damaged due to an excessive sliding speed which is difficult to control.
The prior art apparatus has the further drawback that only a quite specific product, for example pizza, for only one particular taste can be dispensed. However, the user of a modern automatic dispenser expects to make a selection from various products.